Fashion model and actor Adwoa Aboah has been in hiding for the past few months. At least, that’s what she told me when we hopped on the phone to discuss her 2024 Met Gala look: an eye-popping set that looked like a rosebud bush sliced in half to reveal her belly. She used the piece as a vehicle to announce her secret pregnancy. “I’m gonna do my Rihanna reveal moment, whatever that looks like … and then I’ll probably go back into hiding,” she joked days before the event.
For her fifth Met Gala appearance, Aboah decided to partner with H&M, a brand the London native has a lot of history with. “It’s so rare these days for a brand to keep coming back,” she said. “And I think also there’s a great story behind it … all of my first campaigns that I did years ago with my sister.”
Aboah’s look—which included a billowing bubble skirt and a cropped ruffled top with a bedazzled bra peeking out from underneath—was one the fashion star knew she would feel confident in. As the first Monday in May got closer, she realized she’d be six months pregnant by the time she walked the carpet. “I wanted to feel like my best self, and it’s hard when you have literally no control over your body and the way that it’s moving and growing and doing its own thing,” she noted. So, Aboah looked to women who had previously slayed the maternity style game.
“I did a lot of research on pregnant women on the red carpet,” she told me. “Obviously, we have the likes of Rihanna, who killed it in such an incredible way. Sienna [Miller] was also a big reference for me.”
You can definitely see the influence of Miller’s London Fashion Week look on Aboah’s outfit, and she revealed that Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl ensemble served as a jumping-off point as well. That all-red fit, which consisted of a Loewe breastplate and jumpsuit layered under a matching jacket from Alaïa, ultimately inspired the color of the model’s look this week. “[Rihanna] did a bright red, and I just thought it looked so good with the pregnant glow,” Aboah said. “I was like, ‘Let’s do red.’ ”
Other sources of inspiration included ’90s Chanel couture and the massive skirts from Isaac Mizrahi’s Spring/Summer ’94 collection. Despite telling me she had such bad “baby brain,” I could hear Aboah’s passion for clothing in the way she talked about it, and she was able to recall these specific references instantly. “I like to do something that nods at that kind of editorial fashion vibe,” she said.
In the end, the model’s singular look was one of the winning designs on the Met steps, and it winked to this year’s “Garden of Time” dress code without feeling too on-the-nose. “I think [it] is a good reference,” Aboah proclaimed. “I think it brings that all in without going full-blown floral.”
Not to mention, the coinciding Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” is all about examining the “fragility and ephemerality of fashion,” which serves as a “vehicle to examine the cyclical themes of rebirth and renewal.” In Aboah’s eyes, there couldn’t have been a better fit for her current state. “Obviously, the theme kind of shines light on that vintage aspect,” she said, before adding, “I mean, I’m bringing life into this world. So I think I kind of am the theme in a way, just by being pregnant.”
When it comes down to it, Aboah said, she really had two paths to choose from. “Going back to the pregnancy, it’s like there is an insecurity and I was either just gonna pop out a baby or do something like the Met,” she said with a laugh. “So, the Met worked out.”
Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.
